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In the fable about the Little Red Hen, she found a grain of corn, and could not get any of the other animals to help her. She had to plant the corn, water it, tend to it, harvest it, and cook the bread. When it was cooked, they all wanted to help her eat it; but she said, “No, since you did not help me work, you cannot eat my bread.” Ruth, in the Bible was not like these farmyard animals. She had left her home in Moab to stay with Naomi. Both were poor and had to scrounge food. Naomi’s late husband had a rich relative by the name of Boaz. One day Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields and pick stalks of grain left by the harvesters.” Naomi gave her consent, so Ruth went out to gather grain. She found herself working in the field of Boaz, her dead father-in-law’s relative. When Boaz arrived and greeted his workers, he asked the foreman, who is that young woman over there?” They told him she was Ruth, the young woman who came from Moab to stay with Naomi. She asked us to let her gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes rest. Ruth’s willingness to work prepared her for a great blessing. Boaz commended her for taking care of Naomi. He later agreed to marry her. There is a lesson in this for us: Don’t always wait for God’s blessings to fall from the sky. God often blesses us through our efforts.
